Operation Tonga - Ground Role

Ground Role

Operation Tonga was a successful airborne operation, with all of the tasks allotted to 6th Airborne Division being achieved within the time limits imposed on the individual units of the division. These tasks had been achieved despite the problems caused by a large number of the airborne troops being scattered throughout the operational area assigned to the division due to a combination of bad weather and poor navigation on the part of the pilots of the transport aircraft carrying them. Glider-borne airborne troops also suffered from navigational errors, with ten of the eighty-five gliders assigned to the division landing more than two miles (3 km) from their landing-zone. However, an unintended but beneficial result of these scattered drops was that the German defenders were greatly confused as to area and extent of the airborne landings. The division suffered 800 casualties between 5 June and 7 June as a result of Operation Tonga, out of the 8,500 airborne troops who made up the strength of the division when it was deployed. The division maintained its bridgehead after it had linked up with Allied ground forces advancing from the invasion beaches, and was then deployed in a purely ground-based role as infantry. Between 7 June and 10 June, the division would repulse a number of German attacks, with 9th Battalion coming under particularly heavy enemy bombardment in its positions and being the focus of a number of German assaults.

From 7 June until 16 August, it first consolidated and then expanded its bridgehead. On 10 June the decision was taken to expand the bridgehead to the east of the River Orne, with 6th Airborne Division tasked with achieving this; however, it was deemed not to be strong enough, and 5th Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) was placed under 3rd Parachute Brigade's command; the battalion launched an attack on the town of Breville on 11 June, but was met with extremely heavy resistance and was repulsed after suffering a number of casualties. The next day 3rd Parachute Brigade's entire front was subjected to fierce artillery bombardment and assaults by German tanks and infantry, with the Germans particularly focusing on the positions held by 9th Parachute Battalion. Both 9th Parachute Battalion and the remnants of the Black Watch defended the Chateau Saint Come but were gradually forced to retreat; however, after Lieutenant Colonel Otway stated that his battalion would be unable to defend its position for much longer, Brigadier Hill gathered together a number of paratroopers from 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion and led a counter-attack that forced the Germans to withdraw.

From then until mid-August the division remained in static positions, holding the left flank of the Allied bridgehead and conducting vigorous patrolling. It was a difficult period for the division, as most of the airborne troops had expected to be withdrawn from Normandy at an early point; as the static role continued, disappointment and frustration were often in evidence, and "great attention had to be paid to maintaining an aggressive spirit." On 7 August the division was ordered to prepare to move over to the offensive, and on the night of 16/17 August it began to advance against stiff German opposition. This advance continued until 26 August, when the division reached its objective - the mouth of the River Seine. In nine days of fighting it had advanced 45 miles, despite, as Gale put it, his infantry units being "quite inadequately equipped for a rapid pursuit," captured 400 square miles (1,000 km2) of German territory and taken prisoner over 1,000 German soldiers. Its casualties for the period were 4,457, of which 821 were killed, 2,709 wounded and 927 missing. It was finally withdrawn from the frontline on 27 August, and embarked for England at the beginning of September.